The Writing Prompt Boot Camp

Join Google+: Day 16 of the 2015 October Platform Challenge

I’m glad so many people were “gone writing” yesterday. It’s important to remember that not only CAN you do that while building a writing platform, but you SHOULD do that while building a writing platform. Now back to platform-specific stuff…

Join Google+

For today’s platform-building task, join Google+ at http://plus.google.com. While I happen to prefer Facebook and Twitter, there are writers and readers who prefer this social media platform.

One goal of this challenge is to task writers with breaking out of their comfort zones a little to try various social media platforms to find the one (or three) that appeals to them the most. And platforms change, I remember when MySpace was my preferred place to network with poets.

Now it’s Facebook and Twitter. Someday, it may be Google+, Pinterest, Instagram, YouTube, Wattpad, or some site that’s yet to be developed.

The point is to try various sites, give them an honest chance, and then, re-evaluate whether it’s working for you and your writing platform.

A Quick Word About Google+

There are a few things I do like about Google+:

Like Facebook without the ads. The reason I prefer Facebook is because that’s where most of my connections are. However, Google+ is a cleaner site, and I’d be overjoyed if folks eventually migrated over there (a la, the great migration from MySpace to Facebook). It could happen.

Circles. Google+ allows you to group different people in different circles of influence: So a circle for just friends, family, poets, novelists, gurus, or however else you’d like to sort your connections. Better still, only you know how you sort people. And you can organize your Google+ feed by each circle to get the updates you care about the most at that time.

Google Hangouts. Kinda like Skyping or video chatting; actually, it’s exactly like that. Not writing-related, but this is how we handled our fantasy football draft this year with team managers in various locations. And you can get the video off YouTube if you wish. Pretty cool.

Actually, the more I think about it, maybe I should give the site a little more attention. After all, there are other writers who rank it number one on their lists.

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Robert Lee Brewer is Senior Content Editor of the Writer’s Digest Writing Community, which includes editing Writer’s Market and Poet’s Market. Follow him on Twitter @RobertLeeBrewer.